The Fast-Track Cities Initiative was launched on World AIDS Day 2014 in Paris. The initiative is led by Mayors and city governments from more than 50 high HIV burden cities around the world, closely engaged with affected communities, civil society, city health officials, clinical and service providers, and other stakeholders.

As core partners, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the City of Paris are supporting Fast-Track cities to achieve the following targets by 2020:

90% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) knowing their HIV status

90% of PLHIV who know their HIV-positive status on antiretroviral therapy (ART)

90% of PLHIV on ART achieving viral suppression

Zero discrimination and stigma

Attaining the 90-90-90 and zero discrimination and stigma targets is grounded in HIV care continuum optimization. As the initiative’s core technical partner, IAPAC supports Fast-Track Cities with HIV care continuum based on a 5-point implementation strategy through: 1) delivering technical assistance to local health departments; 2) facilitating consensus-building and coordination among key local stakeholders; and 3) providing capacity-building support for clinical and service providers, community-based organizations, and affected communities.

Click here to access an FAQ document outlining the commitments made by Fast-Track Cities and the benefits they derive from joining the Fast-Track Cities network.

Reviewing Progress, Renewing Commitment

While the Fast-Track Cities Initiative aims to galvanize action in all cities across the world, the initiative is specifically focused on accelerating responses in high HIV burden cities. At the same time, cities with a long-standing commitment toward fighting HIV/AIDS, such as Amsterdam, Paris, and San Francisco have been charged with sharing their experiences and expertise with other cities.

Since December 2014, efforts have been underway at local, country, regional, and global levels to translate Fast-Track City commitments into action and to ensure that these cities have the tools and support needed to accelerate their local AIDS responses.

The Mayors of New York City and Paris, in collaboration with UNAIDS, IAPAC, and UN-Habitat, convened a meeting June 6, 2016, in New York City to review progress in efforts to accelerate local AIDS responses in Fast-Track Cities. Attended by Mayors and Deputy Mayors from 30 cities around the world, the meeting was held ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. The meeting featured dialogue regarding the challenges and opportunities to attain the 90-90-90 targets, as well as the release of a report entitled, “Cities Ending AIDS Epidemic.” IAPAC also previewed the Fast-Track Cities global web portal and four city dashboards – Amsterdam, Denver, Paris, and San Francisco – whose objective is to communicate progress globally and city-by-city in attaining the global 90-90-90 targets and locally relevant indicators.

Months after the launch of the third US National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and a year after the launch of the Fast-Track Cities initiative, the White House Office of Nation­al AIDS Policy (ONAP) convened a November 4, 2015, consultative meeting in Washington, DC, to leverage the US domestic strategy and the global initiative to accelerate AIDS responses in US cities, counties, and states. The meeting was convened in collaboration with IAPAC, UNAIDS, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Ser­vices (UCHAPS), and National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

In May 2015, senior officials from 13 municipalities from Africa, Asia, and Latin America took part in a Fast-Track Cities meeting co-hosted by UNAIDS, IAPAC, and other partners in Mumbai aimed at fostering South-South collaboration. Participants drafted action-focused roadmaps to reach the 90-90-90 targets in multiple cities of the global South. Cities are using these initial roadmaps as a basis to engage with a wider network of city-wide stakeholders in developing a city-specific implementation plans.

Prior to signing the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities, a team of Dutch clinicians, the H-Team, was established in Amsterdam. Eager to leverage the Fast-Track Cities Initiative’s global platform and collaborate with other Fast-Track Cities, the H-Team visited San Francisco in April 2015 and Paris in June 2015 to share best practices around HIV care continuum optimization to attain the 90-90-90 targets.

In July 2015, the AIDS Impact conference held a session entitled, Eliminating HIV Transmission on a City Level: The Tales of Three Cities. Co-chaired by UNAIDS and the Academic Medical Center of Amsterdam, the session heard how Amsterdam, San Francisco, and São Paulo (Brazil) are pursuing zero new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. Drawing on lessons learned, this roundtable discussion examined city-wide health policies, innovative prevention, and access to HIV testing, care, and treatment programs.

The 2015 Summit on Controlling the HIV Epidemic with Antiretrovirals, hosted by IAPAC in partnership with UNAIDS, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the City of Paris, included a panel on Fast-Track Cities: Focusing on Urban HIV Epidemics to Attain the 90-90-90 Targets. In this panel city health officials and clinicians from three Fast-Track Cities – Abidjan, Bangkok, and Paris –discussed their current AIDS responses and assessed what more needed to be done to attain the 90-90-90 targets in their respective cities.

In collaboration with the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, IAPAC and UNAIDS co-hosted a technical consultation in November 2015, bringing together city, county, and state health departments from around the United States. The consultation forged coordination between the United States’ national AIDS response, as outlined in the updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy, with the global Fast-Track Cities Initiative. During the consultation, participants discussed challenges and shared best practices around a variety of topics including HIV financing, HIV care continuum optimization, and data monitoring and evaluation systems. Click here to access the consultation report.

IAPAC has also provided Fast-Track Cities with technical support to organize city-wide consultations, generate data from diverse health information systems on their HIV care continua, and conduct capacity-building exercises for city stakeholders in relation to HIV care continuum optimization efforts.

In 2016, IAPAC will support Fast-Track Cities through a multitude of city-level activities, including in the areas of process and oversight, program interventions, monitoring and evaluation, communications, and resource mobilization. Select activities include:

Support for advocacy, stakeholder dialogue, coordinating consultations and other meetings